USC’s Marqise Lee works out during a practice at the Howard Jones Field at USC Monday August 19, 2013. (Andy Holzman/Los Angeles Daily News)

ALL-TIME TROJAN

In three years, Marqise Lee stands tall when it comes to his place among the top receivers in USC history.

CAREER RECEPTIONS

1. Marqise Lee 241

2. Dwayne Jarrett 216

3. Keary Colbert 207

4. Kareem Kelly 204

5. Johnnie Morton 201

CAREER RECEIVING YARDS

1. Marqise Lee 3,537

2. Johnnie Morton 3,201

3. Dwayne Jarrett 3,138

4. Kareem Kelly 3,104

5. Steve Smith 3,019

CAREER TOUCHDOWNS

1. Dwayne Jarrett 41

2. Mike Williams 30

3. Marqise Lee 27

4. Johnnie Morton 23

4. R. Jay Soward 23

By the end of the craziest season of the young life of Marqise Lee, there was no Heisman Trophy consideration for the mercurial USC wide receiver and no talk of the Biletnikoff Award, which he collected last season as the top wideout in the country.

There were no All-American honors and he wasn’t invited to span the globe on the college football awards circuit, as many expected.

Heck, the Trojans’ best player wasn’t even voted the most valuable player on his own team. That honor went to running back Javorius Allen.

No, it wasn’t that kind of party this year for Lee, even though he initially embarked on what is certainly his last season at USC as a coronation of sorts. This was to be the exclamation point on one of the great Trojans careers of all time, with December a month of awards and honors.

But the closest Lee got to the Heisman Trophy presentation was when he woke up last Sunday morning, turned on the TV and learned Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston had won it the night before.

“I didn’t even know it was on,” Lee said, underscoring how far he fell off the grid this year while dealing with injuries, quarterback uncertainty, a coaching change and USC’s plummet in the Pac-12 standings.

But in a curious sort of way, we learned more about Lee this year than we ever imagined, gaudy stats and accolades notwithstanding.

And while he didn’t wind up recognized as one of the best players in the country or even on his own team, the one award he did win tells us all we really need to know about Lee.

He was recognized last week as the Trojans’ most courageous player, a striking honor given that he plays a position more associated with prima donnas than tough, rugged souls willing to sacrifice body and limb for the good of the team.

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And he clinched it on a chilly night in November when, clearly hurting from getting kicked in the shin earlier in the game — on top of the late September knee injury that hampered him all year — Lee fought his way back onto the field against Stanford on a fourth-and-two play with the score tied at 17, legged out a 13-yard slant route and corralled a pass from Cody Kessler for a critical first down.

A short while later, Trojans kicker Andre Heidari kicked a 47-yard field goal and USC had a 20-17 upset win over the Cardinal.

But everyone knows it was Lee who set it all up.

“Even if was just to be a decoy, I was going to be out there,” Lee said.

No one would have blamed Lee had he remained on the sideline, the pain from the shin injury zipping the length of his lower leg like a knife incision and the millions of dollars waiting for him from the NFL ample motivation to stay put and not risk further injury.

Turns out that is not what Lee is all about.

Hence, the recognition with an award Lee shared with Randall Telfer after fighting through season-long injuries that often reduced him to decoy more than playmaker.

But he was out there, and that didn’t go unnoticed.

“It just goes to show you how unselfish he is,” said USC offensive coordinator Clay Helton, who will serve as the Trojans’ head coach Saturday at the Las Vegas Bowl.

“To go back out there on fourth and two, you could not have kept him out of there even if you wanted to. And he goes out there and makes a play that really wins the game for us. But he’s done it all year for us.”

That the season didn’t turn out the way many imagined, Lee included, is just another life lesson in a series of tutorials Lee has experienced in his three seasons at USC.

A season after he electrified the country with 118 catches for 1,721 yards and 14 touchdowns and was recognized as the nation’s top receiver, Lee was slowed by a knee injury that kept him out of three games and significantly slowed him even when he did play.

His numbers slumped to 50 catches for 673 yards and just two touchdowns, and until this week he couldn’t remember a time when he actually felt 100 percent healthy.

“I’ve never had to deal with a season like this,” Lee said.

Again, no one would have blamed him for shutting his season down considering the Trojans were going nowhere fast and Lee had plenty of money on the line.

But for Lee, that would have contradicted everything he stands for.

The epitome of that playing out that night at the Coliseum against Stanford.

“It’s more than just ... I mean, it was a situation where you could have thought about (not playing). That it’s possible to go back in and make it worse than it is,” Lee said. “But at that point, and I think I can talk for everybody, when you’re playing on a team and you’re playing a team like Stanford and you see how much work and energy your teammates are putting into it and even yourself, how much you’re putting into it, when that decision arrives and you’re wondering about going in again and your teammates are asking, at the end of the day you just realize this is what I play football for.

“Yes, I play for the coaches and the school and myself, but first and foremost I play for the guy lining up next to me.”

And Lee was not about to let that guy down.

Award or no award.

“The award, I appreciate it. It was big,” Lee said. “But I didn’t do it for an award. I did it because that guy next to me has been playing for me all year and I’m sure as heck going to play for him.”

That won’t show up in a box score.

And it clearly doesn’t result in national awards or recognition.

But in the bigger picture of what the NFL can expect from Lee in addition to his splendid skill, it’s worth noting this is a kid who put it all on the line — money be damned.

“That’s toughness,” Helton said. “(He’s) gonna do whatever it takes to get back, to fight back from injuries and adversity.”

As far as the NFL goes, Lee insists he’s set his long-range future aside as he prepares for the Las Vegas Bowl, but by this time next week he expects to sit down with his family and new coach USC Steve Sarkisian and weigh his options.

At this point it’s doubtful he’ll come back for his senior year next year. After going through the kind of season he did, the prudent side of him will decide it’s better to get paid dealing with that than doing it for free.

But maybe not. He promises he still hasn’t made up his mind, so there is always a chance he’ll come back.

For the time being, though, Lee is focused on the guys lining up alongside him.

“Right now, you’ve still got a game going on,” Lee said. “Thinking about that can affect the way I play, so I try not to think about it as much. Just go through this last little game not worrying about it because I am trying to have a great last game.”